Full Day of Hiking Acadia; Gorham Mountain and Beehive

On our second day, we took full advantage of the free shuttle and left the car at the campground. I picked a hiking loop route for us that included 4 trails, our first stop was Gorham Mountain.

Gorham Mountain is a moderate trail with amazing views of the shoreline and a 525 ft summit. This was a fun trail, gradual up and down to the summit, a great start to our day. I’d recommend the Cadillac cliffside trail, it takes you to an ancient sea cave that was fun to climb. The views were still foggy when we reached the summit but it cleared by midday. On our way down the mountain, we got caught behind a rescue team carrying someone down. We were able to pass them when the group stopped to rest at a wider area of the trail. It was a scary reminder to be careful and go slow if necessary before our next trail. The Gorham Mountain trail connects to the Beehive trail, which is where we were headed next.

I wanted to hike a ladder trail at Acadia but the Precipice trail was a little intimidating. The Beehive is 1 mile shorter and almost half the elevation. when we started to climb up the iron rungs, I was nervous but the fog made visibility down below hard which helped. The vertical sections were a little crowded but it wasn’t too bad because everyone was nice and accommodating. A few times we let people pass us and vice versa. About midway through the climb, the fog started to part, the views were breathtaking and my adrenaline started pumping. At that point, I couldn’t stop because I was afraid I’d freeze and get stuck.

When we reached the top, I’d never felt anything like it. It was exhilarating! It’s a bit of a shame I didn’t take any pictures of the climb but I was too scared I’d drop something with no barrier from the cliffside we were on.

We took a picture in front of the summit sign, the sign moved after the picture and I was so startled I almost fell.

After all that excitement we hiked down the backside of the trail to the bowl for a picnic in front of the water.

After lunch, we hiked to the bottom of the Beehive trail and crossed the road to Sand Beach for a restroom break.

Next, we walked the Ocean Path. I was surprised at how many wedding photoshoots were happening on the rock cliffs, I’ve never seen so many brides in tennis shoes.

At about halfway through the Ocean Path my mom was getting tired but I convinced her to make it to the Ottercliffs. There was a group rock climbing down the sides of the cliffs when we got there which was cool.

The plan was to hike to Otter Point where I knew from the map there was a shuttle stop but after the Otter Cliffs my mom was done and we saw a sign nearby that might be for a shuttle stop. Luckily, after 20 minutes or so we got picked up by a shuttle that was bound for Bar Harbor.

We had an early dinner at Peekytoe Provisions. We sat outside and had the best clam chowder I’ve ever had. We had some time before the shuttle to the campground came so we browsed stores. The bookstore had an impressive witchcraft and wicca section and I had butterbeer ice cream before going back. A perfect ending for our time in Acadia.